CYPRUS MEDIA BOSS SHOT DEAD IN NICOSIA
Gibrahayer – Nicosia
Jan 10
(FinancialMirror.com and other sources) – Andis Hadjicostis, CEO of
the family-controlled Dias media group and Sigma TV, was gunned down
as he was leaving his home in the capital’s diplomatic neighbourhood
of Engomi on Monday night.
The murder took place just after 8:30pm, according to initial
police reports, that added on Tuesday morning that the gunman probably
killed Hadjicostis with a shotgun and not a revolver, as no bullet
shells were found.
Neighbours said they heard two shots, but no one saw the gunman
who got away. Reports suggested the killers lay in wait for
Hadjicostis and shot him as he got out of his vehicle. After firing
two shots which hit him in his chest and back, they fled the scene on
a motorcycle.
Police cordoned off the area, within walking distance from the
U.S., Russian, French and Egyptian embassies, while their searches
were focused on nearby fields from where the assailants escaped.
Politicians and community leaders alike condemned the murder of
the 41-year-old, credited with the creation of the Sigma TV station,
as well as modernising the media empire of radio stations, newspapers
and magazines founded by his father and current chairman, Costis
Hadjicostis. Sigma switched to classical music all evening, while all
other TV channels interrupted their programmes with special bulletins.
Tuesday’s newspaper headlines led on the murder, while the
group’s Simerini wrote `Cowardly murder – they killed Andis
Hadjicostis in cold blood’. In a front-page editorial, the newspaper
said `We will not submit to terrorism’.
Cypriot parliamentary speaker Marios Garoyian condemned the
killing. "He was a great person, a friend, a person who never harmed
anyone… We will not let lawlessness, crime or murders prevail. Our
democracy is strong enough to withstand all of this," Garoyian said.
Criminal activity targeting media figures in Cyprus is
extremely rare. Police did not say what the motive for the killing may
have been but said the investigation was still at an early stage.